mr president as one of the rapporteurs on the fta with south korea and a strong fta protagonist i am hoping for a balanced and level-playing-field agreement that benefits both sides a true win-win situation
one of our core industries is not really happy with the current status of negotiations and they have many friends in their camp including some member states industries and meps
they all see the playing field unfairly tilted to benefit south korea in this agreement
the european commission and the european council should look hard into areas of friction namely the ddb safeguard clause non-tariff barriers and rules of origin
if some progress could be achieved to bring more satisfaction to the eu car industry then employment levels strong gdp and expected standards of living would really benefit and be preserved
however a level playing field will not be a disadvantage
a strong precedent may be established for other ftas waiting in line and coming up soon in the near future
it is clear to me that this agreement overall brings other benefits to the eu and to some of the eu's different industries
in the small picture there will always be some winners and losers it is the nature of any bilateral agreement
in the big picture we could be close to real balance
however with such a crucial industry as the automobile industry in a fairly unhappy mode there is a need to try for more
only when achieving some additional progress can we speak of a truly balanced fta that is acceptable and has a real and positive impact as a precedent for future ftas
